Here at Her Campus Wilfrid Laurier we are constantly amazed by the amount of generousity that our fellow Golden Hawks have. We sat down with local philanthropist and WLU Greek Council’s President Eva Pham to discuss a great initiative on campus. Eva is partnering up with other students on campus and one amazing staff member here at Laurier to collect winning Tim Horton’s Roll Up the Rim tabs to donate to the homeless in our local community.
Who started this campaign?
A wonderful woman named Cec Joyal who works in Laurier’s Alumni Hall as a development officer. She’s been doing this for years now with last year being the biggest year yet. A lot of radio stations, newspapers, and strangers from all around reached out to her and wanted to contribute. A close friend who’s mother has been friends with Cec for years put me in touch with her and as President of Greek Council, I really wanted to get the Greek life community on board this year!
What is the reason for this campaign?
I actually asked her this question today, which is funny! She looked at me with a relaxed smile, saying that they [the homeless] need it more than ever and it’s such an easy way to give back to the community. There has been a change with the Out of the Cold programs in KW where the homeless must leave the shelter at 8 am and can only return at 8 pm. Cec said that by giving out these tabs it gives them a place to go and stay warm during the day and also gives them the dignity to purchase a meal themselves.
How can students get involved and where can we drop off our winning tabs?
If you have bad luck like I do and cannot get a winning cup, we’re also accepting monetary donations that will go towards purchasing $5 Tim Horton’s gift cards that will be handed out as well. You can drop off your donations at International News where a contribution box is set up near their register area. Myself and Cec will be collecting them all the way until the end of Roll Up The Rim. Donations can be dropped off in the Alumni Hall at Cec Joyal’s office, or if you contact me at pham0870@mylaurier.ca, I’d be more than happy to meet up with you!
What do you hope to achieve with this campaign?
Laurier is an amazing school because of the great sense of community we have. It’s a great cause that is so close to our campus that I know we can come together and help out. I hope to bring more exposure to Cec Joyal’s amazing work and educate the Laurier community about her campaign. I really want to double last year’s contributions, but we need all the help we can get. Last year she had collected 2,800 tabs! I’ve had amazing feedback so far from friends and all the Greek groups on campus.
If you want to help out, don’t forget to drop off your tabs at International News or in Cec’s office in the Alumni Hall!